Five The Hierophant - Over Phlegethon album review

British avant-instrumentalists invite you to take a leap of faith

This multi-instrumental avant assault owes as much to the jazz fusion of Mahavishnu Orchestra as it does to the doom metal powering its permanent heft. Queen Over Phlegethon’s sharp, percussive groove is the start of a trip through shimmering, psychedelic environs. Der Geist Der Stets Verneint is a carnival-esque nightmare, rewarding your perseverance with the record’s apocalyptically swaggering highpoint. It’s a rare spike of coherent energy amid multi-layered, diffuse atmospheres, paying off on a potential you may feel the band are yet to fully fulfil. On Omen Tree the album’s ritualistic atmosphere takes centre stage – a conclusion that leaves you unsure as to whether Five The Hierophant have led you to the spiritual revelation they promised or tricked you into a labyrinthine purgatory.